Popularly known as ‘Queen of Spices’ as opposed to Black Pepper hailed as ‘King of Spice’, Cardamom, sometimes spelt as cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. The cardamom plant is a perennial herbaceous plant with a pseudostem and thick irregular shaped rhizomes. Dried fruit or cardamom pod is traded as a spice.
Cardamom pods are spindle-shaped and have a triangular cross-section. The pods contain a number of seeds, which are small and black, while the pods differ in colour and size by species. Cardamom is generally available in the form of whole fruit as a primary product, in-ground form as secondary processed products and also in the form of extractions of oil and oleoresin as value-added products. Cardamom lands are generally termed as spice forests. Sri Lankan Cardamom suppliers export light green cardamom variety (Elettaria cardamomom), which is one of the most expensive spices by weight.
Due to the unique flavour of green cardamom cultivated in Sri Lanka, formed by the country’s unique terroir, green cardamom produced in Sri Lanka is known as Ceylon Cardamom.
The country serves about 0.1% of the global demand for cardamom which amounts to 4000 to 5000t per annum. India, Australia, Canada and Estonia are the main buyers of Ceylon Cardamom, which is available in two grades; namely LG Lanka Green Cardamom (LG) and Lanka Light Green Cardamom (LLG).
In Sri Lanka, cardamom is mainly cultivated in the districts of Kandy, Matale, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura and a part of Galle. Three types of Cardamom are found in Sri Lanka and they’re categorized based on the shape of the inflorescence.
Consumption of cardamom has drastically gone up throughout the world during the last two decades. Cardamom is mainly consumed in the Middle Eastern countries, India, Pakistan, European countries, the USA, and Japan. In fact, Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and South-East Asian countries such as India, account for over 60% of the global consumption.
Cardamom is reported to be one of the oldest spices known to the world. Cardamom originally came from wild plants in the Western Ghats in Southern India. The plants so proliferated in this region that this area came to be called Cardamom Hills.
The use of this spice dates back at least four millennia. Ancient Egyptians used Cardamom for many medicinal purposes, as part of rituals and even for embalming. They chewed cardamom pods as a way to help keep their breath minty and to help clean their teeth. The Greeks and Romans used Cardamom for its pungent aroma. It was a key ingredient in perfume and aromatic oils.
Vikings first discovered this spice during their travels and brought it back to Scandinavia. During the 19th century, plantations of cardamom were set up by
Cardamom has a complex flavour profile – it’s citrusy, minty, spicy, and herbal all at the same time while being highly fragrant too. Cardamom is mainly used in the food industry as a flavouring agent. Cardamom Oil is used for flavouring of beverages and drinks such as coffee and tea while cardamom pods and ground cardamom is used to spice up both sweet and savoury dishes. It is widely used in Indian, Middle Eastern, Arabic, and Swedish cuisine. Cardamom is found in the garam masala spice mixture that seasons meat and vegetable dishes, and in hot beverages such as masala chai and Turkish coffee.
Powdered cardamom, cardamom oil and whole cardamom are widely used in flavouring food and beverage during everyday cooking, at the hospitality sector and food and beverage industry. Green Cardamom pods give away more flavour than the ground cardamom powder.
Even though it is mostly known for flavouring Asian dishes, cardamom is widely used to flavour confectionery, pastries, and baked products by the rest of the world. Many recipes call for a mixture of cardamom with other spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves and the green coloured pod is usually removed when added to flavour a dish.
Crushed cardamom seeds are also used as an additive to tea and coffee. While cardamom tea and cardamom coffee were initially made by brewing crushed cardamom seeds with tea leaves or ground coffee, cardamom tea and coffee is now mass-produced by blending cardamom powder with loose leaf tea or ground coffee.
Cardamom powder is also used as a natural preservative in meat-based food products mainly due to its antifungal and antimicrobial properties.
Cardamom possesses a number of health benefits; namely, antiseptic (pulmonary), antispasmodic (neuromuscular), aphrodisiac, expectorant, anthelmintic, antibacterial (variable), cephalic, cardiotonic, diuretic, emmenagogue, sialogogue and stomachic. It’s also anti-inflammatory and is reportedly an antidote for both snake and scorpion venom. It’s also hepatoprotective and anti-ulcerogenic
Cardamom’s many health benefits include;
In addition, cardamom’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties are believed to reduce the occurrence of cancer and improve general health.
Due to the many medicinal properties it contains, green cardamom essence and green cardamom essential oil are widely used as an ingredient in the pharmaceutical industry. Essence derived from the cardamom seed is used in the production of medications that treat heartburn, intestinal spasms, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), intestinal gas, constipation, liver and gallbladder complaints, and loss of appetite.
Cardamom is also an ingredient in pills that treat sexual dysfunctions and urinal complications.
Although a combination of ginger, cardamom, and tarragon essential oils is used as an external application to relieve symptoms of post anaesthesia including nausea, during surgery; its effects tend to vary according to the health of the patient and the type of drugs used to induce anaesthesia.
The intense aromatic fragrance and its benefits to skin and hair health make cardamom a perfect ingredient in the production of perfumes and many other personal care products. Cardamom oil is a widely used ingredient in many personal care products including soap, face wash, masks, and moisturises mainly due to the melanin reduction property of its compounds. It is also used in perfumes and fragrance.
The cardamom seed extract is also used in some of the herbal-based cosmetic formulations including skin-whitening, anti-dandruff shampoo, hair-shine, and hair-growth preparations.
Cardamom extracts are also used in mouthwash, toothpaste, and dental gums mainly due to its refreshing aroma and antibacterial properties.
The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial properties of Cardamom make it a widely used ingredient in herbal medicine, aromatherapy, and home remedies. Cardamom oil is used in massage oil blends since its antispasmodic properties help in soothing muscles and in aromatherapy, it is used to reduce stress and anxiety. In herbal medicine, cardamom is often used to treat digestive problems and is used in combination with cinnamon to treat indigestion. Cardamom combined with ginger treats nausea and vomiting. Cardamom also enhances the patency of the liver while stimulating the kidney and lowering blood sugar.
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